SESSION 16 (2026)
Leg 1 (05/25-06/07)
READING
Practicing Christian Doctrine by Beth Felker Jones
Chapter 4: A Delightful World - Doctrines of Creation and Providence (PDF)
Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Chapter 3: The Day Alone
Sacred Rhythms by Ruth Haley Barton
Chapter 2: Solitude - Creating Space for God
PREPARING
Watch our sermon “Silence & Solitude” from Psalm 46 in our series Spiritual Rhythms of the Psalms
REFLECTING
What is one step you can take today to quiet the noise in order to listen more attentively to the voice of Jesus and slow down in order to live more faithfully to the way of Jesus? (EHS-WB, p26)
Reflect on something new you learned from Beth Felker Jones’ writing that has changed the way you see God as creator or His creation. (Ch4)
Describer an aspect of God’s creation that you find beautiful?
In Life Together, Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes, “Let him who cannot be alone beware of community. Let him who is not in community beware of being alone.” (p78) After reading Chapter 3, what do you believe Bonhoeffer means with this warning? Reflect on how you are currently experiencing both “the day with others” and “the day alone” in your life. What does this warning bring to light about your pursuit of community and expectations of community - as well as your pursuit (or avoidance) of solitude? Write an approximately one page (12 point double spaced) reflection paper for this specific question and share with your formation group.
Is this extended time of silence you’re entering in to something you feel as though you have to do or something you desire to do? Be honest as this answer is simply between you and God. (SR, CH2 - p172)
Describe the last time you “had space to feel what (you were) feeling” (SR, p30). What was it about that experience that enabled you to truly feel? (think about the who, what, where, and when of the environment) How are these factors not normally present in your life, and how do they prevent you from truly feeling? (SR, CH2)
Ruth writes that “we’re busy trying to make stuff happen rather than waiting on God to make stuff happen.” (SR, p41) What square peg are you currently forcing into a round hole? How could you begin praying regularly for this item, patiently waiting for God to sand off the corners? How does the idea of patiently waiting on God for this make you feel in the moment? (SR, CH2)
Ruth writes that “exhaustion sets in when we are too accessible too much of the time.” (SR, p35) Identify one step you could put in place to establish a boundary that reduces your availability outside of your immediate household for a regular period of time. I would suggest sharing this boundary with both your immediate household as well as your formation group. (SR, CH2)
What was something you learned from your times of silence during this leg?
PRACTICING
This session is all about practicing silence and solitude, stretching our comfortability with extended periods of silence. Each week you will be setting aside one hour for silence. Use the following structure for your time (Silence & Solitude Guide):
1. PREPARE for your time in silence with God by grabbing your phone, a journal, and a pencil. Find a quiet, comfortable spot where you can sit in silence and solitude. Set your timer for the determined amount of time. Then take three deep breaths in, inhaling and exhaling slowly, calming the chaos, quieting the noise, and allowing your body to relax. As distractions enter your mind (not if, but when), acknowledge the thought, jot it down in your journal (just a couple of words so you remember later), release it, and return to God.
2. PRAY over your time, marking your entrance into this time with God, opening yourself to God, by praying Ted Loder’s prayer “Gather me to be with you” from his book Guerrillas of Grace (this can be found on page 7 of Invitation to Solitude and Silence)
O God, gather me now to be with you as you are with me.
Soothe my tiredness;
quiet my fretfulness;
curb my aimlessness;
relieve my compulsiveness;
let me be easy for a moment.
O Lord, release me from the fears and guilts which grip me so tightly;
from the expectations and opinions which I so tightly grip,
that I may be open to receiving what you give,
to risking something genuinely new,
to learning something refreshingly different.
O God, gather me to be with you as you are with me.
Amen.
3. READ Psalm 46, reminding yourself that by living under God’s protection (v1-3), in God’s presence (v4-7), and by God’s power (v8-9) brings you peace. Receive this peace, feel this peace, embrace this peace.
4. SIT in the stillness and silence of this refuge with God, aware of His presence. Be still and know He is God, that He is to be exalted. Don’t rush. Don’t force anything to happen, just continue sitting with God, spending time with God, being with God. As you sit in silence, pay attention to your inner being - your thoughts and emotions. Feel them, name them, express them as you sit with them and share them with God. As they arise, ask yourself what likes you are hearing or believing and how this is robbing you of the peace you find in God. How are these lies contradicting the truth of God’s Word about who He is and who you are in Christ? Then release your cares, your worries, and your fears to God.
5. When the alarm goes off, GIVE THANKS to God for this time together in His presence and this refuge of peace. And know that you cannot do this wrong. Feel free to simply sit and be with God. Enjoy this time, do not feel guilty for it!
Leg 2 (06/08-06/21)
READING
Surprised by Scripture: Engaging Contemporary Issues by NT Wright
Chapter 5: Jesus is Coming - Plant a Tree!
Chapter 11: Apocalypse and the Beauty of God
Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense by NT Wright
Chapter 4: For the Beauty of the Earth (PDF)
REFLECTING
Reflect on the following questions regarding the reading, writing in your journal:
What is one step you can take today to quiet the noise in order to listen more attentively to the voice of Jesus and slow down in order to live more faithfully to the way of Jesus? (EHS-WB, p26)
What was your view of eschatology (i.e., your view of how the story ends) prior to this leg’s reading? How did you view life after death? What did you think happened when Jesus returned? What has influenced this view?
NT Wright can’t help but connect our eschatology (our view of how the story ends) with our mission (how we live our lives in the present). As a result of his writing in this leg, 1) Reflect on one way your view of eschatology has changed, 2) Reflect on one way this has altered how you should live your life in the present, and 3) If Jesus is indeed coming, does planting a tree matter? And if so, why (or why not)?
What role do you think art should play in the christian world view? (Ch11) - Wright proposes a challenge for the Christian artist: “To tell the story of the new world so that people can taste it and want it, even while acknowledging the reality of the desert in which we presently live” (p. 203). What art have you seen that depicts these images? If you consider yourself an artist, how does your art fall within this challenge?
Within God’s vision of the new heavens and new earth, “each of us has a particular calling—prophetic, artistic, political, theological, scientific, whatever it may be—by which God will call us to bring signs of that new world to birth within the old one” (p. 206). What do you believe your calling is in bringing the new world into the old? Has God made this calling clear to you? How might you discern God’s calling in order to engage in activities that foreshadow the coming of the new heaven and new earth?
How has this leg’s reading changed the way you view your vocation? How can you find beauty in what you are currently doing? How can you do it to the glory of God as an act of worship?
What was something you learned from your times of silence during this leg?
PRACTICING: Silence
One 60-minute session of silence for each week of this leg using our Liturgy of Silence guide
Leg 3 (06/22-07/12)
READING
Liturgy of the Ordinary by Tish Harrison Warren
Chapter 3: Brushing Teeth - Standing, Kneeling, Bowing, and Living in a Body
The Deeply Formed Life by Rich Villodas (Red Book)
Chapter 7: Sexual Wholeness for a Culture that Splits Bodies from Souls
Chapter 8: Deeply Formed Practices of Sexual Wholeness
Sacred Rhythms by Ruth Haley Barton
Chapter 5: Honoring the Body - Flesh-and-Blood Spirituality
REFLECTING
Reflect on the following questions regarding the reading, writing in your journal:
In your reading and practicing, where has God been speaking most clearly about honoring your body and part of your life in Him? What will caring for your body more intentionally involve? (p176)
Is there something your body has been trying to tell you as of late that you have not been listening to? How are you responding to this awareness? (p177)
Have you thought about the care of your body as part of your spiritual life and worship of God? What experiences (positive / negative) have shaped your view of the body and your relationship with your own body? (LOTO, p162)
Tish writes that “if the church does not teach us what our bodies are for, our culture certainly will.” What does our culture tell us about what our bodies are and what they are for? How does this message align with scripture? How does it differ? (LOTO, p162)
When you were growing up, how did your parents handle (or not handle) the “birds and the bees” conversation? How may have their approach shaped the way you view sexuality? (DFL, Ch7)
Adam and Eve hide from God, fearful and carrying shame. How does fear and shame about our bodies impact our relationship with God, ourselves, and others? (DFL, Ch7)
What are the spoken or unspoken messages from the Church regarding sexuality that has impacted the way you see this issue? (DFL, Ch8)
Read 1 Thes 4:3-5. Which words or phrases stand out to you? Paul’s words are direct, urgent and culturally provocative for our day. How does one seek to live out these words without going down the path of legalism, shame, or judgmentalism? Paul writes that we have to “control our body.” How do you hear these words? (DFL, Ch8)
In Chapter 8 of Deeply Formed Life, Rich identifies 5 practices for sexual wholeness. Which of these practices are most pressing for you in this season of life and why? (DFL, Ch8)
What was something you learned from your times of silence during this leg?
As you prepare for your upcoming retreat, draft a preliminary plan including: a) what will you need to bring with you? (bible, books, articles, journal, pen / pencil, etc) and b) how will you take care of meals (or will you be fasting)?
As you prepare for your upcoming retreat, draft a preliminary plan including: a) when you will take your retreat (identify 3 possible dates, be sure to share with those who need to know) - b) where you will take it (I would suggest having a back-up indoor option in the event of bad weather) - and c) what are you going to do? begin work on an itinerary and liturgy including when wake up, leave, meals, etc. Ruth Haley Barton provides some helpful ideas in building your liturgy in Appendix 1 of Invitation to Retreat.
PRACTICING: Silence
One 60-minute session of silence for each week of this leg using our Liturgy of Silence guide
PUBLISHED: Tuesday, May 19th, 2026, at 5:45PM CT
UPDATED: -